Decentralise policy implementation, says Bimal Jalan

Jalan, who is heading a panel tasked with framing guidelines to decide on an appropriate size of reserves that the RBI should maintain and the dividend it should give to the government.

Bimal Jalan (File photo)

Amid sharp criticism from the Opposition that the government has been “compromising’ with independence of autonomous institutions, former governor of the Reserve Bank of India Bimal Jalan on Sunday said there should be a “decentralised system” in terms of implementing policies.

Jalan, who is heading a panel tasked with framing guidelines to decide on an appropriate size of reserves that the RBI should maintain and the dividend it should give to the government, said the administrative system needed to be made much more “public-oriented, rather than the government-oriented, which is the case now”.

“It has to be decentralised. Policy decision by the government, but implementation (should be carried out) by the independent institutions… Once institutions like the UPSC, Election Commission, CAG have been set up for public interest and to serve the public, then they should be autonomous,” Jalan said on the sidelines of the 202nd Founders’ Day Celebrations, organised by the Presidency University.